The End?
by PhoenixTears80
Summary: This is my take on the end of the series. Nothing specific on how our boys defeat Lucifer, just an expansion of a mental picture I have of the series finale.


Well, this is my first ever "Supernatural" story, and my third ever of any story.

I've had this idea rattling around in my head for a while, and I'm dedicating this story to sammygirl1963. Thank you SO much for your encouragement!

Anyway, seeing as how next season will be the last, I thought this would be a good time to post a short story featuring my theory on how the series is going to end. It's nothing specific about how the boys beat Lucifer, although I keep hoping that will happen, preferably without either of them dying, since they've both died twice already (I am counting Sam being struck by lightning at the end of "Wishful Thinking"). It's just an image in my head of what we're going to see at the end of the series finale.

Ummm, other things to note… I have no beta, I sort of _am _my own beta, so all mistakes are mine. I also don't own "Supernatural" or the boys (oh that I did…), and I'm not profiting by writing this, just getting my fix during the summer hiatus.

The End?

"_This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good."_

_- Stitch "Lilo & Stitch"_

It was over. Dean couldn't believe it. _Well, _he thought, _it'll never be over. But at least _it's _over. _It was almost too much to take in. _Man,_ _Lucifer…_

Propping himself up on the side of his beloved car, he turned his head to look at the house behind him where Bobby was resting on the wooden porch steps and then to the gnarled tree trunk his little brother was leaning exhaustedly against, shotgun dangling loosely from one hand. Sam looked a little shell-shocked.

Of all the possible battlefields, who would have thought that the big showdown would take place right where this whole mess had started? _Freakin' Kansas…_ Dean thought.

They hadn't been certain, but small signs kept popping up in the days leading up to the final battle, signs that pointed straight to Lawrence, Kansas. As soon as he'd had an inkling of what was going to happen, Dean got on the phone to Missouri and asked her to go and get Jenny and the kids out of the house. The psychic didn't question and didn't try and talk him out of his course of action. She knew something big was about to go down and how important it was to get the innocents out of the line of fire.

Sam must have felt his brother's eyes on him because he seemed to snap out of it. He looked up to meet Dean's gaze.

Dean could spot the blood running down the side of Sam's face and knew that there were more injuries than just what he could see. Hell, he knew that once the adrenaline rush wore off, he himself would barely be able to stand. But, for the moment, his body was still buzzing. And he _was_ still the big brother, even if it had been a long time since he and Sam had acted like it. He moved to the rear of the car and opened the trunk, dragging forward the first aid kit. He looked over at his little brother once more and jerked his head, indicating that Sam should join him by the car.

Sam looked down at his feet. He knew Dean was standing over by the Impala, waiting to patch him up, but somewhere deep inside, he felt he deserved every cut, every fracture, every _everything_, for what he had done, even after all these months. Sure, after leaving the church in Maryland to regroup, Castiel had admitted to both Sam and Dean that he was the one who let Sam out of Bobby's panic room _and _that he knew what would happen, but it didn't make Sam feel any less responsible. However, Dean wouldn't listen to Sam's apologies.

As Dean had explained it, being cosmically screwed since before he was born, and being set up for failure by the angels, who according to their mother were supposed to be watching over them, absolved Sam of at least _some _guilt. He had also taken some of the responsibility on himself. If he hadn't pulled a repeat performance of John Winchester's parting words to Sam before his youngest son left for Stanford, then maybe Sam wouldn't have joined back up with Ruby before attempting to take down Lilith (as Bobby had said, he took the easy way out by pushing Sam away instead of trying to deal with him). Oh yes, according to Dean, there was plenty of blame to go around.

The shotgun dropped from Sam's fingers. Without looking up, he made his way, slowly and carefully, over to his brother. As he reached the car, he felt a gentle hand grasp his shoulder, turning him slightly and exerting just enough pressure so that he found himself sitting on the edge of the trunk.

Dean studied his little brother's face before opening the first aid kit. He took out an antiseptic wipe and began cleaning the wound on Sam's forehead. "This is gonna need stitches," he said, applying a bandage, "but I don't wanna do 'em here. I think this'll hold you until we can find someplace to crash." Sam had barely flinched during his big brothers ministrations. "You ok?" Dean asked.

Sam remained silent, not looking at Dean's face, although it did look like he was thinking about how to answer. He very slowly nodded his head.

Dean sighed. "You're not ok," he said, looking at the ground. Looking up at Sam, he continued, "I know that because I'm not ok either." At that, Sam looked up to meet his eyes. "We will be, though," he said, giving Sam's shoulder a brief squeeze.

Standing up, Sam carefully took Dean's chin in one of his large hands. He looked in Dean's eyes, then examined his face before looking him up and down, trying to figure out if there was something his brother wasn't telling him. Dean let him, knowing Sam needed this, needed to make sure his big brother wasn't trying to hide some sort of life-threatening injury from him. Once he was satisfied, Sam let go of Dean's chin and let his hand drop down to his side.

* * *

Trying to suppress a groan, Bobby rose from his position on the porch steps as he saw Sam make his way over to the Impala. Wanting to keep an eye on the boys, _My boys_, he thought to himself, he moved over to the tree, occupying the spot Sam had recently stood in. He strained his hearing, hoping to pick up what was being said between the brothers.

* * *

"So…" Sam started, taking a shaky, yet deep breath and closing his eyes. Opening his eyes, he looked at Dean. "Are we good? For now?" he asked, hopeful, but at the same time a little scared. So much had happened.

Dean looked his little brother in the eye without blinking. He remained silent for a moment before the corner of his mouth turned up, just a little. "Yeah," he said, "we're good." He paused before adding, "Bitch."

Sam felt a wave of relief wash over him. This battle had not been without costs. It had left all of them a little broken, in one way or another, but still good. _Yeah, _Sam thought as he looked over at Bobby and then back at his brother, _still good._

* * *

Shaking his head, Bobby picked up the shotgun that had fallen from Sam's hand earlier. He crossed to the open trunk of the Impala and stood between Sam and Dean. He looked from one to the other before tossing the shotgun in with the rest of the Winchesters' arsenal. He then clapped a hand on each young man's shoulder. "If you two chuckleheads are done," he began, "we got work to do." And with that, he reached up and slammed the trunk closed. Lucifer might be toast, but there were other evils out there, and they needed to carry on.

The End?

Well? What did you think? Good? Bad? Feasible way to end the series? I just keep having this mental picture of Bobby standing with Sam and Dean by the trunk of the Impala. The trunk is open, Bobby tosses a shotgun into the trunk, claps both boys on the shoulder and says "We've got work to do." Remember at the end of the pilot episode, that's what Sam did, and at the end of the season two finale, that's what Dean did, and the show seems to have an affinity for creating parallels.

I indulged myself a little with the "Lilo & Stitch" quote. I have always loved that line, and after seeing the direction that season four took, it just reminded me of the boys.


End file.
